Sara Blakely

Biography

Blakely's origin story — performing stand-up, failing the LSAT twice, selling fax machines — became as famous as Spanx itself. The product insight was simple (cut the feet off her tights), but the execution, self-funded and self-patented, rewrote expectations for who gets to build a billion-dollar brand.

American entrepreneur who built the shapewear company Spanx from a single prototype into a category-defining brand.

Known for

Founding Spanx with $5,000 in savings.

Notable works & defining projects

• Spanx
• Sneex (footwear)
• The Sara Blakely Foundation

Notable achievements

• Founded Spanx in 2000; became the youngest self-made female billionaire on Forbes' cover in 2012
• Sold a majority stake in Spanx to Blackstone in 2021 at a $1.2 billion valuation
• First woman to join The Giving Pledge (2013)

Timeline

1. 2000Launched Spanx; Neiman Marcus ordered and Oprah named it a 'Favorite Thing' the same year
2. 2012Forbes put her on its cover as the world's youngest self-made female billionaire
3. 2021Sold a majority stake to Blackstone in a deal valuing Spanx at $1.2 billion

Did you know?

• Before Spanx she sold fax machines door-to-door for seven years in Florida
• She wrote her own patent application to save on legal fees and prototyped Spanx with $5,000 from fax-machine sales